Friday, September 3, 2010

X-Training during the Off-Season

By the middle to the end of September, most if not all road bike races will be done for the season...at least in our area. For most of you, that is when "off-season" officially begins and lasts a month or so. Off-season is a time to relax, put the bike down (not completely, I'll get back to this later) and start enjoying some of the other things you like to do in life. It's prime-time to X-train. Perhaps it's hiking, running, going on long walks, Mtn. biking, etc. that you like to do. Just something to maintain your weight and keep you "relatively" fit. Granted, you're going to lose some of your road racing fitness. Sorry, but there is no way that you can keep your peak road racing fitness level all-year-round.

For me, I'm not much of a hiker or walker and I can't run because of my bad back. But, what I like to do is Mtn bike and fish- particularly out of my fishing kayak. Why? First, fishing is reallly fun in the Fall. Just like the squirrels, the fish are feeding-up for the Winter. They feed often too. Second, my fishing kayak is just not ANY fishing kayak..it's a Hobie Fishing Kayak with the patented Mirage Drive System. The Mirage Drive System is a "pedal system" used to propel the kayak leaving both hands free to fish. (See the photo above, it looks like penguin fins from below) The nice thing about the "pedal system" is that in additon to fishing, I'm getting a decent leg workout in. Especially if I have to pedal long distances on a lake or pedal upstream in a river. You can really get a good "quad burn" by pedaling long/hard. I wish I knew how much Power (watts) I'm producing just to propel myself 5 mph upstream on a river. If I had to guess, I'd say 200-250w. (Funny, they do sell a combination motor/computer for kayaks that gives power output in watts. I'm tempted to buy it. Be cool to download the Mirage Drive System file into WKO+ haha)

Earlier, when I said "put the road bike down" during the off-season I didn't mean completely. The last thing you want to do is give-up all of your road bike fitness you worked so hard to build during the current race season. When I say, "put the bike down" I'm saying give it a rest. i.e. reduce the time on the road bike. You don't want to stop riding your road bike completely. That's a mistake a lot of amateurs make. You should at least get out once per week on your road bike, in additon to riding indoors and riding your Mtn. Bike. And, if you only get out once per week to ride your road bike, that ride had better be a spirited ride complete with hills.

So, enjoy the off-season..have some fun..watch football..go fishing..ride your Mtn bike..take walks w/ the wife or girlfriend (or both..haha). Don't forget to get out on your road bike at least 1x/wk. It will be November before you know it, and you'll be starting a new season of training...fresh...in relatively good fitness...and motivated.

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USA Cycling Official & Coach

Coach Rob- Masters 55+

Welcome

Welcome to my Coaching Blog. I'm a USA Cycling Level 2 Power Based Coach. I was the first USA Cycling Power Based Cycling Coach in the State of Pennsylvania. To become a Power Based Coach you have to pass a pretty comprehensive exam by USA Cycling http://www.usacycling.org/ on the use of Power Meters for Cycling Coaching. I also think you must become a Level 2 Coach before you're able to take the exam. I've been training and coaching with Power for over 10 yrs. now.

Although I don't actively coach right now, I do give FREE advice to athletes looking to set up a training program for the first time or to seasoned athletes looking to 'break-through' to a higher level of racing/training. I've coached just about every type of athlete in the past, from young world class triathletes in their 20s, competitive cyclists in their 30s and 40s to older athletes in their 50s (like me) looking to just get back in shape. I've even coached older cyclists in their 60s looking to get stronger on their group rides with friends. So, feel free to email me any questions: mullerrj@gmail.com